I took my first digital photography course in January 2005. The course was offered through the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute's School of Art. Keith, my instructor, is a professional photographer who now teaches on a full-time basis at the School of Art. He is originally from Chester, England.
This photography course was helpful because I began to understand such basic photography terms such as shutter speed, aperture, and exposure. Keith was always very supportive and never put anyone down. I also met other people who had been "bitten" by the photography bug.
We spend a lot of time learning about digital photo editing during these class session. The class members took photos outside of class and we learned about editing them using Photoshop CS and CS2 during class. It was fun as well as inspirational to see other people's work.
One day in class we went out to the museum grounds with our cameras. Keith helped us to take some artistic photos. (See above photo.) Many of the photos from this class photo shoot were displayed in our class exhibition at the museum. My photo entitled "Art and Architecture" was taken through glass windows. The windows are in the corridor that links the modern museum building with the Victorian museum building. I really liked the collage effect of the photograph.
Although I really enjoyed the three digital photography classes I have taken in the last two years, I really wish that I could have some photography instruction "on location" with an instructor there. I really did learn a lot about digital editing, but I would like to have more instruction on using the camera's controls using a "hands-on" approach.
I do believe that participating in the digital photography classes enabled me to continue to develop a critical eye. Again, I began to see the beauty of everyday objects: keys, flowers, feathers, and other objects that tend to go unnoticed. As the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote, "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
